


Strings

by aerobesk



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-22
Updated: 2014-03-22
Packaged: 2018-01-16 14:50:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1351456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aerobesk/pseuds/aerobesk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Soulmate AU) Gavin had never really cared about the strings in the edges of his vision.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strings

Gavin had been seeing the strings for a while. They showed up in his dreams only, at first. Then they started to show up, for real. He would just see glimpses, little flashes of the colored strings. But they were there.

            He wasn’t sure why he could see them. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why he was so special. He was the only one who could. He had asked people before, namely his brother and parents, and after a while it had gotten him sent to counseling. He had played it off as lighting, and was sent home with a good report. But it wasn’t lighting. And he knew that.

            He didn’t really get annoyed with them until he arrived in the US. He was there for a filming gig when the first one made an appearance. A real, in the flesh, he was staring straight at it appearance. The blue string was connected to his right hand, a little bow knotted around his middle finger. He tugged experimentally, finding that he couldn’t untie it. He plucked at it, noticing how tight it was. It gave a twang, and even though the thing was quivering, he didn’t really feel anything. The string led off into the distance, and he noticed that people were walking through it. So it was only tangible to him too. He shrugged, joining his friend as he heard him call. He ignored the blue string for the rest of his time in New Jersey.

            It happened again when he went to Georgia. He was there for a gaming convention in Florida, and since it was only a hundred miles from the border, he had decided to head up and see some old friends he hadn’t seen in a while. Almost as soon as his tires passed the border the little string appeared, passing through the front of the car and making an appearance with a little purple bow on his pinky. He looked at it before shrugging. He had dealt with it before; he would deal with it again. It stayed for his entire stay in Georgia, disappearing for a while before reappearing on the second day of the convention. He shook his head, watching idly as the string moved slowly to point west. Then he ignored it again.

            The third time was in one of his dreams. Even in his dreams, the strings weren’t usually tangible. But this one was. He was standing in Times Square, though how he saw it so clearly, he wasn’t sure; he had never been to New York. He looked around, noticing that this new string was green, and tied around his ring finger. He shook his head, marveling at the new one. It was slightly tugging; more so than the other ones were, as if it wanted him to make contact with whatever was at the other end. He moved quickly, running through the streets of New York until he had been lost ten times over. He had woken up in a cold sweat.

            The next time, he found himself surprised. He had begun to expect them when he traveled, but this one had just shown up one day. A yellow one, the bow on his index finger. He marveled at it for a moment. Whatever was at the other end had gone to him this time. He was attending a conference that week, and when he got there, he found the string tugging on him with more fervor than ever before. He bought a few posters and walked around for a bit before leaving. The next day, the string faded again. He almost found himself missing it.

            The final time it came out of the blue was when he was back in America. He had just moved there, taking up a position with a small company in Austin. The orange string sitting on his thumb had appeared when he had first entered the state, but it had grown more and more insistent as the approached the airport. By the time he had gotten off the plane, there was actual feeling coming from it. He found himself almost dragged towards the baggage claim, where, for the first time ever, he saw what was at the other end of one of the strings.

            There was a man standing there, restlessly checking him phone. He smiled when he saw Gavin, his beard giving him a nice, happy look. The orange string was pulling on the other man’s thumb too, but he didn’t notice. He walked forward, clapping Gavin on the shoulder. As soon as they touched, he felt the pressure of the string wear off.

            The man was talking, he realized, something about how their boss, Geoff, was out of state for a convention, so he, Jack, had been sent to pick him up. Gavin nodded, still in awe of the other man. They quickly grabbed his bags and left, and Jack dropped him off at the Ramsey residence, a big, currently empty house. The bigger man pressed a set of keys into his hand, explaining which one was for the door before waving and driving away. Gavin raised a hand in farewell, watching the string twitch as he left.

            Gavin had become used to the constant presence of the orange string by the time the yellow one reappeared. He had been asleep when Geoff had gotten home, and he only woke up because of the constant, insistent tugging on his right hand. He looked up groggily, straightening up almost immediately as he noticed the yellow one. Two at the same time. That was different.

            He jumped up, moving quickly into the living room where he heard the TV on. The man sitting on the couch, covered in tattoos and wearing a flannel shirt, looked up as he entered, chuckling at his disheveled hair and awed look. He stood, reaching out quickly for Gavin’s hand. Again, the pressure was relieved the moment they made contact. He introduced himself as Geoff, sitting down again and offering him a beer.

            Gavin stared down for a moment, watching the orange string moving slightly. The yellow string was still. Then he sat next to Geoff, opening his own beer and watching whatever movie the other man had put on.

            Gavin almost didn’t notice when the blue string reappeared as well. He was going to the bathroom, and noticed it as he was leaving. It took him almost three days to meet the blue man; a red headed, rage filled man his own age from Jersey. Gavin smiled as the pressure went away when they shook hands. Jersey made sense.

            He became quick friends with Michael, striking up a quick companionship even though he was working with Geoff and Gavin was working with Burnie. They still saw each other often, and Gavin was very glad for that.

            The green string surprised him, showing up almost a year after the blue one. He didn’t meet the source of it until almost two weeks later, and he was surprised as he found out that the new man, a New Yorker named Ray, would also be working there. He had long since realized that there was something up with the strings, and how so far, most of the tangible ones had re-entered his life already. He noticed Michael and Ray strike up a quick friendship, and once he saw how close Geoff and Jack already were, he moved himself over to Achievement Hunter.

            He wasn’t disappointed when, less than a year after he moved over, the purple string reappeared, showing up with a tall, blond man in it’s wake. Gavin was quick to become friends with Ryan, and he took a certain satisfaction in knowing that their group was complete.

            A few months later, Gavin sat in his desk, staring down at his hand. Two of the strings, purple and orange, were outside the door. Two more, green and blue, were to his left and one, purple, was to his right. He didn’t even register that he was being spoken to until the blue and green moved directly next to him.

            He looked up, realizing that all five of his boyfriends (he felt a, now familiar, surge of happiness as he thought of them as that) were watching him. He realized that it was time to leave, and he quickly gathered up his things, following them out to the car. He looked down again, watching every string on his hand and the men attached to them.

            They didn’t need to know. They didn’t need to know that Gavin had been hoping that they’d walk into his life for years. He could settle for just knowing it happened. And he knew, deep down, that he had always loved those strings.


End file.
